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Why does Babcock insist on flanking his franchise player with grinders all the time?

His theory is that there isn't enough puck to go around for three skill guys on a line. He believes every unit needs a "puck retriever" ie hard worker to do all the little things in order to free up the skill guys to do their thing.

Hyman in particular is a guy Babcock has claimed to be one of the league's best forecheckers and retrievers, which is why he sees him as a fit to play with his skill guys.

Seems similar to baseball managers putting shitty/fast players in the leadoff spot

Giving playing time out based on talent should be an obvious thing to do...

It isn't all about talent in hockey. You need to have the right mix of skill sets on each line. Pendleton outlined it. You can't have three guys on a line that all like to have the puck.
I go agree that Brown and Hyman aren't the right combination, but I also don't think that Matthews, Marner, and Nylander wouldn't be most beneficial either. I think one of those two should replace Brown. And it'll be Nylander. Dudes been struggling, and Babcock wanted to put him on a line that doesn't have the tight defensive matchups all the time to try and open up the ice for him and boost his confidence back up before reuniting him with Matthews.